Long Waits for Surgeries Eliminated at Townsville HHS

Townsville Hospital and Health Service has achieved a major performance benchmark with patients receiving surgery on time every time.

Royal College of Pathologists Opposes In-store Health Checks

The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) has joined the AMA and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia in opposing the trial of in-store health checks being made available at select Woolworths' stores across NSW and QLD.

APNA Brands Announcements on Health Assessments "Devastating"

PSA Criticises Supermarket Health Checks

[caption id="attachment_8461" align="alignright" width="161"] Grant Kardachi[/caption] Moves to provide health checks to consumers within the supermarket environment have been criticised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. National President of the PSA, Grant Kardachi, said Woolworths had stated it was hiring final year pharmacy students, graduating pharmacists and nurses to conduct health checks such as blood pressure and cholesterol in their stores.

Broome Health Campus Upgrade Started

Work has started on the $8.6million upgrade of the Broome Health Campus Emergency Department.

Older Australians Taking NSAIDs for Too Long

Research by the University of Sydney has found that older Australians are taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for too long and without sufficient precautions to minimise harmful side-effects.

Australian Council on Healthcare Standards Announces New Chief Executive

[caption id="attachment_8602" align="alignright" width="200"] Dr Christine Dennis[/caption]

Dental Decay Recognised as a Chronic Disease

Dental decay is a chronic disease. Dentists have always known it. Now the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has confirmed it in their report: Australia’s Health 2014.

BeAWARE Program on Recognising Heart Attack for General Practice Staff

An online program to educate general practice staff, specifically non-clinical (reception staff), on the best ways to identify patients with suspected warning signs of heart attack and stroke has shown huge increases in awareness, confidence and intended action taken by staff who completed the program.

National Disability Insurance Agency Chief Provides First Year Report

Next week marks the first anniversary of the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It is timely that we take a moment to reflect just how far we have come in that year, and also to name some of the challenges we will face going forward to full scheme rollout in coming years.

Bodies Servicing those with Dementia Now in Jeopardy

Aged & Community Services Australia is growing increasingly concerned the Coalition Government will pull funding for aged care programs after it suddenly ceased funding the Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement.

Launch of App to Monitor Facebook Use of People Living With a Mental Illness

Mental health experts are using social media to predict when a person living with a mental illness is likely to experience a relapse.

Sustainable perioperative practices - Reducing, reusing or recycling

Dr Pat Nicholson PhD, RN, RM, has been involved in perioperative nursing for more than 30 years. Dr Nicholson discusses the evidence behind reducing, reusing or recycling in the perioperative setting.

A Gum Disease Treatment is Improving Vascular health in Aboriginal Australians

A  first of its kind study among Aboriginal Australians has found a simple non-surgical gum disease treatment markedly reduces the thickness of the wall of the arteries, a risk factor for heart disease.

Concerns for Future of Surgical Workforce

A new report claims that at a time when the number of surgeons in Australasia needs to be growing, medical student interest in surgery as a career is stagnant, raising serious concerns for the surgical workforce of the future.